Gastroenterology Procedures
Colonoscopy
This is a test that allows your doctor to look at the inner lining of your large intestine using a thin, flexible tube. A colonoscopy helps find ulcers, colon polyps, tumors, and areas of inflammation or bleeding. Tissue samples can be collected, and abnormal growths taken out. Colonoscopy can also be used as a screening test to check for cancer or precancerous growths.
Bravo Capsule Endoscopy
The Bravo pH capsule test places a small device in the esophagus, or swallowing tube, to measure what happens when a patient feels the symptoms of heartburn. A doctor may recommend this test when a patient has chronic heartburn that might be caused by acid reflux, or gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
EGD
An esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) is a procedure done to examine the esophagus, stomach and upper small intestine. It’s performed using a thin, flexible viewing instrument called an endoscope, which is inserted through the mouth and gently moved down the throat into the esophagus, stomach, and upper gastrointestinal tract.
Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography (ERCP)
(ERCP) is a test that combines the use of a flexible, lighted scope with X-ray pictures to examine the tubes that drain the liver, gallbladder, and pancreas. ERCP is done to check persistent abdominal pain or jaundice, find gallstones or diseases of the liver, bile ducts, or pancreas, remove gallstones from the common bile duct, open a narrowed bile duct or insert a drain, take samples or measure the pressure inside the bile ducts.
Endoscopic Ultrasound
Endoscopic Ultrasound (EUS) is both a treatment tool and an examination and diagnostic tool for the lining and walls of the upper or lower gastrointestinal tracts. This helps your doctor treat or examine issues such as abdominal pain, abnormal weight loss, fecal incontinence, abnormalities such as growths detected during a prior endoscopy or by x-ray, diseases of the pancreas, bile duct, and gall bladder. EUS also helps your doctor determine the extent of certain cancers.
Flexible Sigmoidoscopy
Flexible sigmoidoscopy is one of the many tests that may be used to screen for colon cancer or other issues effective the lower digestive tract. During the test, your physician uses a flexible, narrow tube with a light and tiny camera on one end, called a sigmoidoscope, to look inside the rectum and the lower, or sigmoid, colon. Flexible sigmoidoscopy can show irritated or swollen tissue, ulcers, and polyps—extra pieces of tissue that grow on the inner lining of the intestine.
Liver Biopsy
A liver biopsy is a procedure to remove a small piece of liver tissue, so it can be examined under a microscope for signs of damage or disease. Your doctor may recommend a liver biopsy if blood tests or imaging techniques suggest you might have a liver problem.
Manometry
Esophageal manometry is an outpatient test used to identify problems with movement and pressure in the esophagus that may lead to conditions like heartburn. Manometry measures the strength and muscle coordination of your esophagus when you swallow. During the test, a thin, pressure-sensitive tube is passed through the nose, along the back of the throat, down the esophagus, and into the stomach.
Small Bowel Enteroscopy
A small bowel enteroscopy allows a physician to navigate the entire small bowel for diagnostic and therapeutic techniques without the need of an open surgical procedure. Doctors use a special endoscope that, when inflated with air, can expand sections of the small intestine to enable an attached camera to get a closer view.